


Wrath

by tonkssweeney



Series: The Seven Deadly Sins Anthology [5]
Category: Hanson (Band)
Genre: Angst, Brother/Brother Incest, Cheating, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, M/M, Seven Deadly Sins, Vandalism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-28
Updated: 2019-06-28
Packaged: 2020-05-28 05:32:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19387507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tonkssweeney/pseuds/tonkssweeney
Summary: Zac confronts Taylor when he finds out he's been in contact with an old flame.





	Wrath

**2012**

_Wrath: An intense emotional state in response to a perceived hurt or threat._

By the time 2012 rolled around, things were going pretty darn well in Zac's life. The band was thriving, and they were making plans to head into the studio to record their sixth album. He and Kate had two beautiful children who were the reason he stuck around, in spite of their loveless marriage. And to top it all off, his relationship with Taylor was still their dirty little secret. Their relationship was practically perfect and they were stuck in a perpetual honeymooners phase. Most of their nights were spent naked and tangled up in one another, kissing, touching, and talking. While Zac didn't have one hundred percent of Taylor, he had the important parts, and over the years he had learned how to accept that. Even with seven children and two wives between the two of them, they were making things work the best way they knew how.

As an alternative to their typical hotel trysts, they'd agreed to meet at the studio to not only spend some time together, but to actually get some work done too. Zac's plan was to work on the website while Taylor edited the candid pictures he'd taken while on tour. He arrived at the studio early to tidy up his office so that they'd have a decent place to eat the Chinese takeout he'd picked up for them. Taylor was fashionably late as always, so Zac decided to scroll through Hanson's various Instagram accounts and reply to a few fan comments while he waited for his brother.

And that's when he saw it.

A new picture on Taylor's feed showed him looking rather - for lack of a better phrase- _not himself_. He'd unfortunately seen Taylor with that exact facial expression many times before, but it had been so long that he'd almost forgotten the way it made his heart shrivel and die inside his chest. The eyes of the man in the picture didn't belong to his brother, at least not the brother he'd been in a relationship with for the past six years. It belonged to a version of him that he'd prayed he'd never see again. Zac could only assume that Taylor was some version of high, and his suspicions only multiplied when he glanced at the rest of the picture. Behind him and leaning close in over his shoulder was a familiar face with even more familiar greasy hair. It was Alex fucking Greenwald.

In a matter of minutes, Zac's entire world came crashing down around him and he felt buried under the weight of his hurt and anger. Seeing that picture on his Instagram feed wasn't a dream or a nightmare, it was a nasty reality. In a matter of minutes, everything he had shared with Taylor over the past six years came into question. How old was this picture? How long have they been talking? Were they having sex? How far had Taylor slipped backwards into his past drug addiction?

Zac felt sick to his stomach but he did his best to talk himself down by trying to convince his brain that he was overreacting. Maybe it was just a picture they'd taken after running into each other on the street. Maybe it was just a shitty quality picture and he hadn't been high after all.

Or maybe Taylor had been lying to him all along.

He stood up from his computer chair and wandered down the hallway towards the bathrooms. A glance at himself in the mirror showed nothing but a pale complexion and a sweaty forehead. He looked every bit of shitty that he felt, but he was determined to change that. After a splash of water over his face and a few deep breaths, he pulled open the bathroom door and came face to face with Taylor. His heart jumped an inch, practically pounding right out of his chest cavity.

"Woah there," Taylor laughed and placed his hands gently on Zac's shoulders. His thumbs lightly caressed Zac's collarbones, making him feel sick all over again. "Didn't mean to scare you. I heard you in there and..." He paused when he looked and Zac, and his face fell. "What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"It feels like I have," Zac mumbled and shrugged Taylor's hands off his shoulders. He brushed past him with force, their arms colliding and virtually knocking Taylor back a few steps.

Taylor followed Zac into his office, watching as he sat at his desk facing away from him. "Jesus, what the Hell has gotten into you, Zac?" He grabbed the arm of the chair and spun Zac around, crouching down in front him so that they could look at each other. "Talk to me."

"You're fucking him again, aren't you?" Zac's voice was gruff and his face was expressionless. He wasn't going to hold anything back and he went straight to the point. He deserved to know the truth even if it hurt.

Taylor stood and took a few steps back as if Zac had verbally slapped him across the face. "What are you talking about?" he asked with a faint tone, the way his voice wobbled making his evasion far too obvious.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about, Jordan Taylor Hanson." Zac reached for his phone and held it up in the air, waving it in front of Taylor's dumb perfect face. "Did you think I wouldn't see the picture of you and Mr. SnortsCokeALot on there?"

"It's not what you think," he whispered again, dropping to his knees in front of Zac once more. "We haven't had... you know. I-I couldn't do that to you."

Zac crossed his arms over his chest defensively and he could feel his blood curdling in his veins. He was afraid it would only take one more thing to set him off, to make him explode and ruin everything they shared between them. To make matters worse, he sensed that there was more to Taylor's story. Why lie about it if there wasn't something else going on? "Okay, but?"

Sighing, Taylor pressed his lips to Zac's left thigh, nose nuzzling the jean material like he was trying to buy time to find the courage to speak. "We've been talking," he admitted. "And I saw him today. But nothing happened, Zac, I swear."

"You were high, Taylor. You got high with him and you lied about talking with him again. Do you call that nothing?"

"I didn't lie, I-"

"By not telling me that he was coming back into our lives again, you basically hid it from me. Which in my book counts as a lie. Hiding something like hanging out with your dickhole ex seems kind of fishy to me, Tay." 

Zac never felt so angry in his life. He wanted - no, he _needed_ to punch something, and if Taylor wasn't careful with his next choice of words, that something was going to be his face. He stood up and moved to the other side of the room away from Taylor, needing his distance. He didn't want to hurt him, he loved him. But he didn't know what to do with the surplus of outrage he was feeling.

"I'm sorry I hid it from you," Taylor said, and for a moment Zac believed him until he continued, "but don't you think you're overreacting a little bit? I don't want him, I want _you_ , Zac."

He narrowed his eyes and glared up at Taylor. "What about the drugs, Taylor? I could see it in your eyes, did you think I wouldn't be able to tell? You're my flesh and blood."

"He gave me some, but it was a one time thing," Taylor admitted, his voice soft like a child who had just been scolded. He reached for Zac's hands, taking them in his own and bringing them to his lips to kiss each knuckle. "Zac, please listen to me, I love you-"

Zac didn't want to hear it. It was bad enough he had to share Taylor with Natalie, but he refused to share any part of him with Alex. Alex was an awful person with even more awful intentions, and he didn't deserve one second of Taylor's time. Zac couldn't forgive Alex for what he'd done in the past, and there was no way he could forgive him for willingly giving drugs to a man with five children to take care of. 

He shook his head and after a brief moment of contemplation he grabbed a framed drawing off of the wall and smashed it to the ground behind him, sending shattered chunks of plastic and glass across the room. Instead of jumping away, Taylor stepped forward closer to Zac. 

"To get back into the drugs after all you've been through? To bring Alex back into our lives? If you LOVED me as much as you claim, then you wouldn't LIE to me!" Zac yelled, the sheer volume of his voice reverberating off the walls. He reached for another piece of wall art but was stopped by Taylor's hands over his own, drawing them down to his sides. Taylor wrapped his arms around Zac and held him from behind, trying to calm him with a tender kiss to the side of his neck.

"Zac, I need you to calm down please," Taylor pleaded, his voice raspy like he was holding back tears. 

When Zac turned to look into his eyes he was happy to see his brother, not the stoned version he saw on his Instagram. But that didn't stop him from being incredibly _livid_ with him and the situation he'd put them in. He squirmed and managed to turn in Taylor's arms, and he planted his palms on his chest to try to get some distance. He didn't want to be held by him right now; his arms around him felt like a prison more than a place of refuge.

"Either you never talk to him again or-" he paused, giving himself a moment to look Taylor square in the eye, "or you leave me. Because I can't take this anymore. It's killing me." The ultimatum was said with more venom than he'd ever heard himself use before, but it was hard for him to regret it. Maybe this was the only way for him to get through to Taylor, to help him make the right decision, he thought.

Taylor looked at Zac with lost eyes and studied his face. He leaned in and with a hand pressed against Zac's cheek, he kissed him so much emotion that Zac could feel it pulsing through his veins. "I shouldn't have to choose, Zac," he whispered against Zac's mouth, nipping at his bottom lip. "Let me try to earn your trust back. This thing between us won't work if you don't trust me."

Zac pushed at Taylor's chest once more in an apathetic move to get away from him. He couldn't let Taylor suck him back in with his sweet kisses and rousing touches, yet he felt himself start to melt. He had to stand his ground, stand up for himself and his principles. He couldn't be in a relationship with Taylor knowing he was doing drugs with Alex, regardless if he was cheating on him or not. The thought of Taylor coming home high as a kite every night made his chest ache enough that it was difficult to breathe. "If you're not willing to ditch the drugs and dismiss a guy who is no good for you then I guess I can't trust you. Ever again."

"Are-are you sure?"

When Zac nodded, Taylor frowned and went in for another kiss. Zac was powerless to stop it even though he probably should have, but his arms were heavy with the weight of his words. After all they'd been through, he owed it to himself to have a goodbye kiss with the only person he ever truly loved. Taylor took a few steps forward and pressed Zac lightly against the wall, his hands migrating into his hair. They kissed slow and deep, exploring each other's mouths like it was the first and last time. Taylor bumped his nose against Zac's as he hesitantly pulled away, whispering a sad _I love you_ before he quickly left Zac's office.

Zac wouldn't dare watch Taylor leave, so he clamped his eyes shut until he heard the familiar latch of the front door. The sound of the lock antagonized the feeling of outrage inside of him until it grew into complete and utter fury. He stomped across the hall to Taylor's office, his eyes landing immediately on the family pictures on his desk. In one fell swoop he forcefully propelled all of the items from the desk into a mess on the floor. Next came the unread books on Taylor's bookshelf that he only kept around to make himself feel smarter than he actually was. Zac hated that stupid bookshelf and those stupid untouched books.

By the time he'd expired all of his anger, Taylor's office was trashed from top to bottom. The only thing that remained untouched was a black and white photo of them that hung on the wall above his desk. Zac reached for the frame with shaky hands and held it to his chest as he collapsed onto the floor.

As he surveyed the cuts on his hands from the mess he'd made, he wondered if he'd gone a little too far. It wasn't like him to loose himself to a blind rancor. Who the Hell had he become? The wrath of Zachary Walker Hanson was something his brother never should have been on the receiving end of. Now he had no one except himself to rely on, and all he could do was seek absolution and hope that someday he could clean up this mess that he made.


End file.
